A summer vacation away from the Dursleys
by Feathernest
Summary: It is the summer vacation after Harry's third year. He has gone to live with a mysterious distant relative where Harry discovered things about another part of his family...
1. The mysterious aunt

Chapter 1  
  
This is just a  
  
"Oooooh! Lunch time!" cried out Ron relieved, closing his herbology textbook loudly. He can't wait to leave his books.  
  
"There's 15 more minutes left, what's the rush?" replied Hermione annoyingly, without looking up from her Arithmancy textbook .  
  
"What? Are you crazy? I've been sitting in this common room for the past 2 hours, without even leaving one step, not to mention NOT going to the bathroom and you're saying I'm rushing? C'mon! This is like heaven!!! And besides, if I stay in this room for another minute I don't think I'm going to like this place any more." Ron cried out. Harry tried to stifle a laughter, but burst out laughing instead. Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head annoyingly.  
  
"C'mon Hermione, Ron's right. We need a break. Besides, losing 15 minutes of studying really isn't anything." Harry replied.  
  
"Oh alright alright," Hermione sighed, feeling a bit hungry herself too.  
  
The three friends made their way down the Gryffindor Tower towards the Great Hall. The Hall was already decorated with a summery atmosphere and the so-called sky of a ceiling is glowing bright with sunlight and cloudless. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down at their usual seats and began helping themselves to the food on the table.  
  
Halfway through their lunch meal, the mail arrived. Hundreds of owls flapping their wings into the hall dropping mails and parcels here and there. Hedwig dropped a white envelope in front of Harry who, although he has been receiving mails occasionally ever since he arrived at Hogwarts, still took it by surprise. It was addressed to him and at the top left- hand corner of the envelope was printed the name "Theresa Lang, Director of hjhn7uWizardry School of Arts."  
  
"Strange, I don't know anyone named Theresa Lang," said Harry puzzled.  
  
"Probably a relative," replied Ron absentmindedly. "Wait a minute, you don't have any relatives other than the Dursleys!"  
  
"Exactly," replied Harry, still wondering who it can be.  
  
"So aren't you going to open it and read?" asked Ron. Harry tore open one side of the envelope and took out a thin piece of paper.  
  
"That's it?" Ron asked.  
  
"Well, how much do you expect it to be? Besides, I don't even know this person," replied Harry. He opened up the letter and saw it was written with great effort and tidiness. There was no sign of inkblots or any mess made on the letter. It read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I'm sure this must have come as a surprise for you to receive a letter from a stranger, or to be more exact, a distant relative. Yes, I'm sure the last statement is coming as a huge confusion to you but I assure you that I will explain and answer every question you may have to the last detail once we meet.  
  
I have written to inform you that I will be picking you up at the King's Cross Station on the day you are coming back for the holidays. Yes, you will be staying at a new place this summer. You are coming to stay with me. Do not worry about the Dursleys, they seem more than happy to not have you for the summer.  
  
I hope to see you soon!  
  
Yours  
  
Love Aunt Theresa  
  
"Aunt Theresa?" mumbled Harry to himself.  
  
"Aunt who?" asked Ron as he looked up from his dishful of food.  
  
"Aunt Theresa," replied Harry, looking very confused.  
  
"You've got an aunt? I mean, apart from your Aunt Petunia?" Ron asked again, sounding surprised.  
  
"I don't know. I'm not even sure if she's real." Harry was afraid this was some kind of joke. After all he had been through over the years, Harry wasn't sure if he was going to trust anyone from the Muggle world, or maybe anyone who isn't from Hogwarts. Yet again, a sense of excitement and longing seem to tell Harry that everything is going to be ok and that he should hope for the best.  
  
"What did the letter say?" Ron asked. Harry told them about staying with this new aunt.  
  
"Well, at least you won't be staying with the Dursleys right?" replied Hermione cheerfully.  
  
"It would be great if this Aunt Theresa is better than the Dursleys, or else it wouldn't really make much difference if she is some sort of mean, old witch," replied Harry. I do hope not, he thought.  
  
On their way to the next class, Harry, Ron and Hermione ran into Professor McGonagall, who wanted a word with Harry. Harry looked back at his friends thinking what had he done wrong this time and Ron had a worried look but Hermione was smiling as if nothing bad was going to happen.  
  
Harry followed Professor McGonagall to her office. Professor McGonagall motioned Harry to sit down while she walked behind her desk.  
  
"Tea?" asked the professor.  
  
"Uh, no thanks," replied Harry nervously, thinking how strange for Professor McGonagall to make this offer.  
  
"What's wrong Potter? You look very tensed! Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong. I want to talk to you about your Aunt Theresa," said Professor McGonagall cheerfully. Harry looked surprised. "You—you—know Aunt Theresa?" asked Harry quietly.  
  
"Yes I do, Potter. In fact, your Aunt Theresa used to teach at Hogwarts. She was a very highly respected professor. Seems like every student loved her Potions class. Unfortunately she only taught for a very short period of time. It was great having her around. She retired after that, decided she wanted to start her own wizardry school in a far off place in England. It's been 20 years since we last heard from her and we were all very surprised that she has come back and decided to take you for the summer." Professor McGonagall smiled broadly as if it was her who was going to stay with Aunt Theresa. Harry was very surprised when he heard about his aunt.  
  
"But…how…?" Harry asked. So many questions have popped up in his head all of a sudden.  
  
"Now now Potter, I'm sure there are lots of questions you want answered but I presume your aunt have told you that she will tell you everything once you two met? (Harry nodded) Well, I guess I won't spoil it and leave it to her. You're going to love her Harry. She's a lovely lady and very cheerful. You won't have to deal with anything you had to with the Dursleys." But Harry still wasn't sure.  
  
"You may go now Potter, I've already informed your professor for the next class that you will be late so no points will be taken from your House." Harry left quickly for his next class but his mind was already full of questions that he wasn't concentrating in class.  
  
The finals went amazingly successful for Harry. Although the thought of Aunt Theresa distracted him a little, but the thought of not staying with the Dursleys this year made him ten times more cheerful that he had no worries with studying. Ron thought Harry had went mad when he wouldn't stop studying. "I can't wait for the summer to come! I want to meet my Aunt Theresa!" Harry had said. However Harry convinced Ron that he is fine, Ron can't help thinking Harry resembled Hermione in some ways during the last weeks of the term.  
  
Finally, summer has arrived. Students from Hogwarts all packed up and ready to leave. When they reached the station, Harry was feeling excited, a feeling he never felt before and had always dreaded summer vacation. But today, Harry felt that his summer vacation is going to be great, greater than perhaps all his past summer vacations. No Dudley's annoying pranks and no Uncle Vernon's crazy warnings of his magic tricks.  
  
The train ride seemed to take forever for Harry. He wasn't listening to Ron and Hermione when they talked to him and he kept staring out the window, his thoughts full of how Aunt Theresa will look like and how his summer is going to be.  
  
"I seriously think that Aunt Theresa of his has cast a spell in that letter, whatever spell it is. Look at him! He's like not here at all!" Ron whispered loudly to Hermione.  
  
"Aren't you glad Harry is finally looking forward towards summer vacation? Look! I've never seen him this happy about summer vacation before! I always felt sorry for him. This year is going to be great. Trust me, just leave him alone. He's going to be fine." Hermione said cheerfully.  
  
"Has the spell got into to you as well, Hermione?" Ron couldn't believe it.  
  
Once they reached the station, Harry hopped off the train excitedly, he couldn't wait to meet his Aunt Theresa. Ron and Hermione were lagging behind, Hermione smiling broadly while Ron still thinks the spell is hopeless to them.  
  
When they finally arrived at the Muggle station, Harry looked around nervously. As he don't know how Aunt Theresa looks like he was only guessing some sort of old lady with a small handbag, with lots of wrinkles and white wispy hair ----  
  
"Are you Harry Potter?" asked a voice behind him. Harry was still trying to create an image of his aunt when the voice interrupted him. He jumped a little and turned to face a short plump lady smiling brightly at him.  
  
"Uh, yes, I am…you are?" Harry looked questioningly at the lady.  
  
"Oh! Harry! Harry Harry Harry…oh how I've missed you! We've all been looking for you but always looked at the wrong places. Oh how we should've known you've been in England all this time!" At this moment, the old lady hugged Harry so hard she knocked his glasses and it slid down his nose about half an inch. Harry struggled to slide his glasses back on again, when the lady finally released him from the monstrous hug.  
  
"I'm Aunt Theresa by the way, your Aunt Theresa Harry!" The lady cried out gleefully. Harry felt embarrassed for a moment. His Aunt Theresa has attracted so many Muggle attention he doesn't know where to look. Then he spotted his two friends standing not to far from him and was going to smile at them when Aunt Theresa grabbed his face in both her hands and gave him a long, deep look. Harry could see tears in her eyes. He wondered why.  
  
"C'mon Harry, let's go, we've got a lot to do this afternoon." Aunt Theresa took the trolley handle and started to push away.  
  
"Hang on," Harry said abruptly. "I want to say goodbye to my friends." He walked over to where Ron and Hermione were standing. Both were looking excited and Ron seemed to have forgotten about the imaginative spell.  
  
"I'm so happy for you Harry. Aunt Theresa seemed like a nice lady," said Hermione, with some tears in her eyes.  
  
"Oh Hermione, it's not like I'm going away or anything. I just found a better place to stay that's all. Remember to write me though!" Harry smiled back.  
  
"Well, Harry, I hope you have a great summer, which I'm sure you will. Yeah, your aunt seems like a nice lady. Well, my parents are waiting for me at the parking lot. I really have to go. I'll write you and you've gotta write me this time! Now that you don't have to worry about the Dursleys interfering." Ron said. Then off the two friends go as Harry waved back when they turned around to look at him for the last time.  
  
To be continued… 


	2. Harry's home

Chapter 2  
  
"Coming Harry?" asked a voice from behind. Harry quickly turned around and walked towards his aunt who was still smiling. "We've got a lot to do this afternoon," she said happily and off they go towards her car.  
  
The whole of rest of the afternoon was committed to shopping. Harry forgot about the worn out clothes he was wearing that were given to him by the Dursleys. Harry was still wearing Uncle Vernon's old shirt (as he had grown bigger now) and trousers. Aunt Theresa pointed out that he is not going to wear those for the whole summer and thus she dragged him to all sorts of shops to get more decent clothes for him. Harry felt a little embarrassed as Aunt Theresa thrust some new clothes to him off the shelves and not knowing what to do with them as he had never done clothes shopping before.  
  
Near the end of the shopping spree, the backseat of Aunt Theresa's car was piled with bags and bags of new stuff she brought for Harry and there seem to be no room left for anything else. Harry suddenly felt a bit guilty for having Aunt Theresa spending so much money on him.  
  
"Ok, one more stop then we're ready to go home," Aunt Theresa said cheerfully.  
  
"Um, Aunt Theresa?" Harry asked quietly (Aunt Theresa has made him call her that instead of ma'am in which he had used instead for the first 15 minutes of them together).  
  
"Yes sweetie?" replied Aunt Theresa.  
  
"Um, I'm really grateful for you to do all these for me but I don't think you should spend any more money on me because I don't know how I'm going to pay back," said Harry nervously. The car suddenly came to a halt and Aunt Theresa turned her face towards him.  
  
"Harry, there's no such thing as paying back. You are my family, I have the right to take care of you. Now, I don't want to hear anything of that sort again from you or else you are making me feel like a stranger and how am I going to be responsible for this if you don't let me take care of you?" replied Aunt Theresa firmly. So firm that Harry felt frightened for a bit and kept quiet for the rest of the journey.  
  
At around 9 o'clock at night, Aunt Theresa's car stopped outside a small house.  
  
"Ok Harry, we're here. This is your house Harry." Said Aunt Theresa all of a sudden. Harry was surprised. His house? Did she mean that the house belong to him?  
  
As if she was reading his mind, Aunt Theresa said, "Yes Harry, this is your house. Your parents once lived here. Now it's yours."  
  
"But…the house…it was gone…wasn't it? I mean, wasn't it burnt down by Voldemort?" said Harry, not knowing what to think now. Everything has become so confusing and blurred all of sudden.  
  
"You're right Harry. It was destroyed. But everyone chipped in to help rebuilt this place because you sure need to have a place you belong to don't you?" answered Aunt Theresa, still smiling. "C'mon, let's go in, everyone's waiting." From the first time they meet until now, Aunt Theresa kept using words like "everyone" and "we" and "others" which made Harry think that there are a whole lot more people than he expected.  
  
He was right as soon as he walked into the house that was supposed to be his. The house has a strange familiarity in it in which Harry felt somewhere in him. He looked around at the walls and the ceilings and felt as if it was only yesterday he had left this place. Sitting in the middle of the room were 5 people, none of whom he recognized at all. They all stood up and walked towards him, each smiling broadly from ear to ear.  
  
"Oh Harry! How you've grown! You have become a very handsome young boy now!" said one lady.  
  
"Harry, my my, you're in better conditions than I've thought!" said an old man.  
  
"Harry! My boy!" said a younger man.  
  
"Oh my goodness! It's James' son! Oh how he resembles him!" cried out a much elder lady than the first but younger than Aunt Theresa. Only one person didn't speak, and he was a young boy looking a little older than Harry, who only stood but smiled at Harry. Being very confused, Harry just smiled stupidly at the people and wasn't sure how to react.  
  
"Come now, our Harry needs some rest. I've taken him shopping for new things this afternoon he doesn't need all these for the moment. C'mon Harry, let me take you to your room." Aunt Theresa led him upstairs. Harry walked the nicely polished wood staircase that led up to the second floor and he noticed there were five rooms. The first room to the left of the corridor was decorated with all sorts of postcards and pictures and looks like it could've belonged to the young boy. The second room facing towards the staircase was slightly opened and looks kind of messy. As Harry walked past two other rooms whose doors were open, he took a sneak peek at each and noticed how interestingly decorated they all were. Before reaching his own room, Harry noticed another small corridor leading towards another room whose door was closed. There was no light other than a small light bulb hanging a few inches away from the closed door. Strange, he thought. Then Harry felt a sudden fear gushing into him and he quickly looked away. He gasped a little as he fought back the fear inside.  
  
"Are you ok my dear?" asked Aunt Theresa who heard him gasp.  
  
"I—I'm fine…" Harry stammered back. What was that, he thought.  
  
"Here's your room Harry," Aunt Theresa said, opening a door to a room that was located at another hallway. The room was lightly decorated with some posters of the Hogwarts' Quidditch teams posted randomly across the walls, a bed big enough for two people to sleep in, a desk next to the bed, a built-in closet to the left of the bed and a table situated at the end of the bed. Aunt Theresa turned on the lights and walked over and turned on the lamp on the night table.  
  
"You're things will be brought up to you later, now come join us downstairs after you have made yourself comfortable and get to know everyone," she smiled and walked back out of the room. Harry stood around for a while, staring at everything. It kind of bring back the feel of the dormitory at Hogwarts. He suddenly felt like being at home already. It was an entirely different feeling, a whole new feeling. 


	3. Meet Harry's family

Chapter 3  
  
After staring around for a while, Harry decided to head back downstairs to join the rest of the household. As he walked passed the closed door, he felt this sudden fear again, then quickly walked away as if nothing has happened.  
  
As Harry descended the staircase, everyone in the living room stood up, as if he was someone important.  
  
"Come come Harry, come meet the rest of your family," motioned Aunt Theresa towards the middle of the room.  
  
"Meet your Uncle Griffith, my husband," Aunt Theresa motioned towards the old man. The old man, or Uncle Griffith, walked towards Harry and shaked his hands. His expression was a combination of gratefulness, grief and happiness. Harry wasn't sure which was more obvious.  
  
"…and here's your distant cousin Karlene Potter," the younger lady came over and gave Harry a hug, a smile on her face as she walked away.  
  
"Jerry, another of your cousin Harry." Jerry walked over to Harry and shook his hands and said cheerfully, "Harry! Welcome home!"  
  
"Harry, meet my sister Josephine." The lady who called out his father's name earlier had tears in her eyes and hugged him hard. So hard Harry wasn't sure if he was breathing any more.  
  
"And finally, Alexander Potter, perhaps the closest relative you have here Harry." Alexander walked over and shook Harry's hand and smiled. Harry felt dazed and confused. Where did all these people come from? How do they know where he is? Why wasn't he informed about them at all in the last 13 years of his life?  
  
"Now Harry, please have a seat. I know this has come as a shock for you so to clear things up a little bit, we decided to tell you who we are, why we are here and why you never heard about us until today." Aunt Theresa led Harry to a couch and sat him down. Harry felt a little weak and took a deep breath.  
  
"Let me start," said Aunt Theresa. "You must have thought your only relatives left are the Dursleys, your mother's sister." She paused. "Well, that's true Harry, because to you, we do not really exist. We have decided to retire ourselves from the Muggle world after all that has happened over the years. Us wizards can't always mingle with Muggles too much because sometimes it brings us trouble. Trouble we do not want to deal with but have to because that is what it is like to be a wizard. You have to deal with things that ordinary Muggles don't." Harry was confused about this but all he wanted was for her to get to the point. As if she could read his mind, she continued, "I am actually related to your father's mother. I am the daughter of your grandmother's sister. Which makes me your aunt and Karlene your cousin and Jerry your cousin-in-law. Yes, Karlene is my daughter in case you are wondering. And Alex here," her arm motioned towards the younger man, "is, as I said before, the closest relative you have on your father's side. He is the son of your father's brother, Joshua Potter." Aunt Theresa's voice trailed off when she said Joshua's name.  
  
"Unfortunately," she continued, "Joshua can't be with us today, or any of the other Potters from your father's family because…." Aunt Theresa stopped and Harry suddenly saw tears in her eyes.  
  
"They've been murdered," finished Josephine.  
  
"Murdered?" Harry said quietly. This is the first word he has spoken ever since he arrived at this house.  
  
"Yes, murdered," Josephine continued, "murdered by the Dark Side of the wizard world, which I'm sure you've heard about. A very dangerous place indeed…" she trailed off here, as did Aunt Theresa. Harry was surprised and confused.  
  
"Alex here is almost in the same situation as you are Harry," Aunt Theresa said after she got herself together. Harry looked shocked. "Except he was in a less dangerous situation than you are. In fact, he could've died if he was in your position." Questions start forming in Harry's mind and he doesn't know what to think any more. All these have come as too much of a shock for him. Nothing he'd ever expected. However, he can't wait for them to tell him the whole story. He must know. Perhaps this connects to why his parents were murdered by Voldemort.  
  
"The tiny village where Alex's parents and the rest of the Potters in your father's family was destroyed by the Force of the Dark Side. It was unknown who was behind it. In fact, until today, no one really knows who. We thought it would be You-Know-Who, but You-Know-Who was far from being in England at the time. In fact, You-Know-Who only emerged once a year before…(she paused)…you got your scar (she finished as that sentence). So we do not know what happened and we wonder whether your….parents' death had to do with that. (She paused again) Fortunately though (she gave a sigh of relief as if she was reliving the event), Alex was with me during that incident and so he was safe from the evil hand of the Dark Force. It was unfortunate for this to happen. Very unfortunate…." Aunt Theresa sobbed after saying this.  
  
"We heard you were a hero and still is Harry!" cried out Karlene cheerfully, trying to break through the sadness. "We also heard you've been through a lot of trouble ever since you arrived at Hogwarts but was able to defeat them. We're so proud of you, Harry. You don't know how happy we are to have you in the family!" Karlene was beaming at Harry. At this moment, Harry sort of calmed down a little after all the shock. Memories of Hogwarts came back to him again and he had this sudden longing that he wished he was back at the school with all his friends and not sitting here digesting very strange stories about his family, stories he never thought of coming across with and histories that he would never dream of happening.  
  
"By the way, are you hungry Harry? You didn't eat much during our dinner at the local coffee shop!" Asked Aunt Theresa all of a sudden. "Do you want anything to eat? We've got plenty of food here to feed you so if you want anything just say it."  
  
"I'll be fine Aunt Theresa," Harry replied. "I'm not hungry."  
  
"I think our Harry needs some rest. He's had a bit of a shock for today now," said Uncle Griffith all of a sudden. "Harry needs to go to bed. He needs to some rest after all those trips through London!" Uncle Griffith chuckled, which made Harry felt a little better.  
  
"Come Harry, I need to go to bed too, let me take you upstairs," Uncle Griffith stood up and waited for Harry at the bottom of the staircase. Harry followed him up the stairs and into his own room. He was so engrossed in his thoughts he forgot about the closed door and forgot about the powerful feeling of fear.  
  
He's belongings has been brought up and placed neatly in his room, it felt as if he was back in Hogwarts' dormitory. As he changed into his pajamas, Harry's only thought was what his aunts had told him. He slumped down on his bed and laid down, thinking all the words they said. The thoughts raced around in his head but Harry became too tired to think about them any more and fell into a deep dreamless sleep. 


End file.
